The Gentiles Are Included

What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his
power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for
destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for
vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—
24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from
the Gentiles? 25 As indeed he says in Hosea, "Those who were not my
people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not
beloved I will call ‘beloved.’" 26 "And in the very
place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my
people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living
God.’" 27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: "Though the
number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a
remnant of them will be saved, 28 for the Lord will carry out his
sentence upon the earth fully and without delay." 29 And as Isaiah
predicted, "If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we
would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah."

This text is relevant for

our vision of God and the way he rescues us from his
wrath.

the issue of racism and ethnic arrogance.

the issue of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

how the Christian church reads and appropriates the Jewish
Bible which Jewish people call the Tanach and Christians call the
Old Testament.

our humility and thankfulness to God for his mercy in
Christ.

our global vision of Christ’s kingdom.

Before we see all that relevance and apply this it to our
situation, let’s put the text in context and walk through it
to understand the argument.

A Crisis of Faith in the Promises of God (Romans 9:1-5)

Remember from Romans 9:3 what the problem was that set this
chapter in motion. "For I could wish that I myself were accursed
and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen
according to the flesh." Many of Paul’s Jewish kinsmen were
not trusting Christ as their Messiah and were therefore accursed
and cut off from Christ.

This created a crisis of faith in the promises of God. If
members of the covenant people, the Jews, could be accursed and cut
off from Christ, how can God’s promises be trusted? Did not
God promise faithfulness and salvation to his people in the Old
Testament? And if God’s word has failed in the case of the
Jews, then what is the hope of Christians for the promises of
Romans 8, like, Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ
(Romans 8:35-37)?

Paul’s Answer (Romans 9:6-13)

Paul’s answer in this chapter was given in verse 6: "But
it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are
descended from Israel belong to Israel." No, the word of
God’s promise has not failed. Why? Because the "true Israel"
who inherit the promises is not made up of every physical
descendant of Israel. Paul argues this from the Old Testament
itself. He concludes in verse 8: "This means that it is not the
children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children
of the promise are counted as offspring." In other words, God is
not bound by physical descent or flesh. He "counts" as "children of
promise" whom he pleases. God acts this way, it says in the middle
of verse 11, "in order that God's purpose of election might
continue, not because of works but because of him who calls."

The Vessels of Mercy Include Some (Not All) Jews, and Many
Gentiles (Verse 24)

So the beneficiaries of promise – the true Israel –
come into being not first by their physical descent, or ethnic
connections, or even by their faith, but by God’s "call." Now
Paul is picking up in verse 24 where he left off in verses 6-13. In
between (vv. 14-23), is an argument for God’s justice in
acting the way he does in his freedom.

Let’s make sure we see the connection between verse 24 and
what Paul said earlier. Verse 6b: "For not all who are descended
from Israel belong to Israel." In other words, the point is that
only some from Israel are part of the people of God. Now notice how
verse 24 repeats that and takes it a crucial step farther. Verse 24
and the last part of v. 23: ". . . . vessels of mercy, which he has
prepared beforehand for glory – even us whom he has called,
not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?" Who are the
"vessels of mercy"? They are those whom God has "called" –
there is the connection with God’s call in verse 11. And whom
has he called? People "from the Jews" – that’s the same
point as verse 6: Some but not all who are descended "from Israel"
are true Israel, that is, are "called" to be vessels of mercy.

But then Paul goes farther in verse 24 and says that not only
are some called "from Jews" but also "from the Gentiles." This is
something he has not said in Romans 9 so far. He said it earlier in
the letter several times: the Gentiles are included with the Jews
in the "vessels of mercy." The reason Paul broadens his scope now
to include the Gentiles is so that in the rest of this chapter and
in chapter 10 he could show why Israel stumbled over Christ by
showing how the Gentiles are included in salvation.

So the point of verse 24 is that vessels of mercy include some
Jews, though not all, as they thought, but also many Gentiles,
which was a surprise to many. The rest of the paragraph (vv. 25-29)
is Old Testament support for these two statements: Gentiles are
included, and a remnant of Jews are included. Let’s just read
them and make the connections that Paul wants us to see.

Gentiles Are Included: Supported from Hosea (Verses 25-26)

In Romans 9:25-26 Paul quotes Hosea where God is saying to the
people of Israel that after he has cast them off and rejected them
and made them a "no people," he will again call them his
people.

As indeed he says in Hosea, ‘Those who were not my people
I will call "my people," and her who was not beloved I will call
"beloved."’ 26 ‘And in the very place where it was said
to them, "You are not my people," there they will be called "sons
of the living God."’

Paul takes the rejection of Israel so seriously – "not my
people," "not loved," "not my people" – that he feels
justified in using this text as an argument why God has included
the Gentiles as vessels of mercy. If Jews were really a "no people"
and could be declared "my people," then Gentiles who were "no
people" could be declared "my people." Gentiles were no people.
They had no covenant claims on God. But now God has sent his
effective call and many of them are saved – they are part of
his covenant people.

Only Some Jews Are Included: Supported from Isaiah (Verses
27-29)

Then in verses 27-29, Paul quotes Isaiah to support the other
half of verse 24. The first half was "Gentiles are included" (and
he supports that from Hosea), and now the second half is "only some
Jews are included" (and he supports that from Isaiah 10 and 1).

And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: ‘Though the
number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a
remnant of them will be saved [notice the point: only some from
Israel are saved], 28 for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon
the earth fully and without delay.’ 29 And as Isaiah
predicted, ‘If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring
[note the point again: God is the one who sovereignly "calls" or
"leaves" a remnant], we would have been like Sodom and become like
Gomorrah.’

So the point of the paragraph is that God creates his people by
calling "not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles." In
both cases it is a surprise. The Jews thought
they were all included because they were Jews, and the Gentiles
thought they were not included because they were Gentiles. God is
gathering a redeemed people in a way that will stop the mouth of
all presumption and will give hope to the most
despairing.

The Relevance of This Passage to Six Issues

Now consider how relevant this passage is to the six issues that
I mentioned at the beginning.

1) It is relevant to our vision of God and the way he rescues us
from his wrath.

I won’t linger over this, because we have spent so much
time on it in this chapter. But let us put it before ourselves
again to give strong fiber to the tree of our faith: God is
sovereign in the way he rescues sinners from his wrath mentioned in
verse 22. We see this in the word "called" in verse 24: "Even us
whom God called not from Jews only but also from Gentiles." He
sends his Son to die in our place (Romans 8:3). He raises him from
the dead (Romans 8:34). He sends his Spirit (Romans 5:5; 8:15), and
he effectively "calls" us to himself (1 Corinthians 1:24).

Remember Romans 8:30, "Those whom he predestined he also called,
and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he
justified he also glorified." In other
words, believers in Christ
are "justified" by faith, and we came to have that faith because we
were "called," and we were called because we were "predestined." It
is God who rules in this affair of salvation, not we. And what a
trembling thankfulness and humility we should feel that God’s
call penetrated our resistance and brought us freely to trust him
and love him! He looked upon us in our sinful deadness and said,
"Live!" And we lived.

2) This text is relevant for the issue of racism and ethnic
arrogance.

When God saves sinners and builds his church by passing over
many of the ethnically privileged and calling to himself many of
the ethnic outcasts, he makes plain that he will not base his
blessing on race or ethnicity. He is going to save people in a way
that breaks the pride of the privileged and overcomes the despair
of the outcast. Ethnic envy and ethnic arrogance are excluded.
Indeed we will see in a moment that God is aggressive in his
pursuit of ethnic diversity in the church. And we should be
too.

3) This text is relevant for the issue of the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict in the Middle East.

What is the status in God’s eyes of unbelieving Israel? Or
let’s put it more to the point for our day: What is the
status of Christ-rejecting Israel today? Jesus says in Luke 10:16,
"The one who rejects me rejects him who sent me." That means that
every religion that rejects Christ as their crucified and risen
Savior and Lord, including Israel, is rejecting God. There is no
saving faith, obedience, love, or devotion to God apart from
receiving Jesus Christ as God’s Son and our Savior. "Whoever
has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not
have life" (1 John 5:12).

So what is the status of Christ-rejecting – and therefore
God-rejecting – Israel? The answer of Hosea 1:9 (which Paul
refers to in Romans 9:26) is that they are in the status of "not my
people." "And the Lord said, ‘Call his name Not My People,
for you are not my people, and I am not your God.’" That is
what God says to a covenant-breaking Israel.

This doesn’t mean that God may not change them and make
them his own at some future time, as I believe he will (Romans
11:25). But a covenant-breaking people does not have a present
claim on covenant promises. Therefore it is wrong for America or
for Christians to be unquestioningly pro-Israel and
anti-Palestinian in the political and geographical situation of the
Middle East. It may be right to be pro-Israel or pro-Palestinian on
any given issue, but while Israel is breaking the covenant with her
God by rejecting his Messiah, the criterion for what is right in
the Middle East should be equally applied standards of justice and
mercy among nations, not divine rights or covenant privileges. Our
relation to Jews and Palestinians should be to love them and treat
them with mercy and justice, as we do all others. Anti-Semitism is
sin. And unquestioning rejection of possible rights of Palestinians
is sin.

4) This text is relevant for how the Christian church reads and
appropriates for itself the Jewish Bible which the Jews call the
Tanach and we call the Old Testament.

Who is the true Israel? Who can lay claim on the precious
promises of the Old Testament? Who has a right to quote Isaiah
41:10 which was addressed to God’s servant Israel: "Fear not,
for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will
strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my
righteous right hand"? Do you as a Christian have a right to read
that as a promise from God to you?

Yes, you do. And knowing why is very important. The key question
is, Who is "us" in Romans 9:24? "Even us whom he has called, not
from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?" The reason this
matters is that "us" here includes Jews and Gentiles. That’s
really important for most of us who are not physically Jews. We are
included here. But included in what?

One answer from the preceding verse is: the "vessels of mercy"
to whom God "makes known the riches of his glory." Would not "the
riches of God’s glory" include promises like Isaiah 41:10?
But we can answer even more directly. Recall the connection between
Verse 24 and verses 6b-8.

For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7
and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring,
but ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’ 8
This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the
children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as
offspring.

And now Paul adds in verse 24: the Gentiles are included.
Included in what? In "offspring." In "children of God." In "Israel"
– the true Israel.

That is what Paul is saying in verse 24: By faith in Jesus
Christ, the Messiah, Gentiles are included in the true Israel. That
is why we can take the precious promises of the Jewish Bible and
claim them for our own. We are included in true Israel. The
covenant promises are ours because we are now covenant people
through Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

So say with the Psalmist, "Oh how I love your law! It is my
meditation all the day" (Psalm 119:97). Don’t squander your
inheritance. It is full of treasures. How many times have I been
rescued form sin and despair by the promises of God in Old
Testament bought for me by the blood of Jesus!

5) This text is relevant for our humility and thankfulness.

This struck me powerfully from Romans 9:29, "And as Isaiah
predicted,, ‘If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring,
we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah.’"
This is being spoken about Israel. They would have become like
Sodom and Gomorrah – evil and obliterated. But Sodom and
Gomorrah were not Jewish cities. They were pagan Gentile cities.
And they were famous as the most evil and wicked cities, and they
were annihilated.

Isaiah says, that is what Israel was about to become except that
the Lord intervened. Think of it: The most favored people in the
world are on their way to the worst pagan wickedness, and to
destruction, apart from God’s restraining grace. Learn from
this what you are like apart from God’s grace in your life.
You are on our way to be like Sodom and Gomorrah if God does not
step in and save you. Be humble. Be thankful. And yield to all his
mercies.

6) Finally, this text is relevant for our global vision of
Christ’s kingdom.

Gentiles is another word for peoples. They are included. Verse
24: God is calling people from the peoples. God’s aim in
salvation is wide. Don’t think that God’s heart is
narrow or confined because verse 27 says, "only a remnant of them
[Israel] will be saved." No. No. Read the rest of the book. "A
partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the
Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved"
(Romans 11:25). God has a fullness in mind for the nations. And he
has a fullness in mind for Israel – far greater than anything
we see today.

So let us rejoice that we are included in the true Israel, the
children of God, the vessels of mercy. But let there be no
cliquishness among us. May our hearts not be narrow or confined in
our mercy or our witness or our mission! Let us give ourselves to
savoring and showing the wideness of God’s mercy.

There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy (Hymn)

Fredrick Faber

There’s a wideness in God’s mercy,
Like the wideness of the sea;
There’s a kindness in His justice,
Which is more than liberty.

There is welcome for the sinner,
And more graces for the good;
There is mercy with the Savior;
There is healing in His blood.

For the love of God is broader
Than the measure of our mind;
And the heart of the Eternal
Is most wonderfully kind.

But we make His love too narrow
By false limits of our own;
And we magnify His strictness
With a zeal He will not own.

Was there ever kinder shepherd
Half so gentle, half so sweet,
As the Savior who would have us
Come and gather at His feet?

John Piper (@JohnPiper) is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books.

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